September 9-16

Remember the concerto competition I was in?  You may recall that it didn't go as well as I wanted.  In fact, my mind blanked during one fast section (concertos have to be memorized), and I stopped playing altogether.  I recovered acceptably, and the rest of the piece actually went very well, but I was displeased with that one section of my performance.  As it turns out, fortune was with me as my fingers were tripping over themselves.  The concert at which I would have performed (had I won) is scheduled for April 27, 2013.  This date would have been extremely inconvenient for me, as Bryan and I recently found out that baby number 2 is due right around that time.  No concerto performances for me!  I do think that God could have allowed be to perform brilliantly at the competition and let the winner barely edge me out, rather than gifting me with the spectacular experience of forgetting my notes, but that apparently wasn't the plan.  He must have wanted to make sure there was absolutely no chance the judges would be so overcome by my spectacular viola-ing that they awarded me first place on the spot.

We told our parents about the baby last week via Grandparents' Day cards.  Did you know there was a Grandparents' Day?  Or that it fell in early September?  Me either.  I discovered it kind of by accident and found the timing all too convenient.  Anyway, along with pictures of Olivia from her recent 1-year-old photo shoot, they received this picture in the card:

I did not get the symphony job.  :(  I thought my audition went well, but other auditions must have gone better.  Bryan was talking to other applicants as they came in, and told me later that most were much more invested in this audition than I was.  One had just come from an audition in San Francisco, another "would rather drive 8 or 9 hours than have to fly," and so confines most of her auditions to this side of the Mississippi, and still another checks with her Master's program teacher before each audition to confirm the financial stability of the orchestra.  In other words, these are all people trying to make a living off of their music.  I am of two minds about this: One, I guess the job went to someone who needed it more than me, so that's good.  Two, why are people wanting to make a living auditioning in Springfield?  It doesn't pay very much (about enough for 5 months of cheap apartment rent, according to my somewhat educated guess), so they must live in the area and look at it as a good stepping stone.  I think they should set their sights higher and leave the low-paying jobs to people like me who just do it for fun.  :)  After this experience, I have decided that next year I will also audition for the Dayton and Lima symphonies.  Both are close enough that the drive won't be a big deal, and they will give me more practice auditioning.  Also, given what I've seen in Springfield, it can't hurt to get my face known in other places.  :)

I haven't been updating much about Olivia's walking progress because she still isn't.  Walking, I mean.  People have been asking, though, so here's the update:  She still isn't walking.  :-P  She is continuing to get braver, and will often stand next to furniture while holding something with both hands.  She no longer minds being placed in the middle of the floor, for she now knows how to sit down if she wants to.  She will take the occasional step or two, but not usually more than that.  However, she's taken enough steps that we definitely missed the official "first step."  When she reads this blog as a teenager hoping to find the date of her first step, she will be sorely disappointed.  Come to think of it, she didn't have a definitive "began crawling" day, either. Olivia will push laundry baskets around the house (preferably the full ones, so that she can redistribute the clothes in as many rooms as possible), she will push chairs around the great room, she will walk holding onto someone's fingers, and she will walk holding my hand (just one hand for each of us; she's so talented!).  However, she steadfastly refuses to begin walking unassisted, although Bryan is sure it will happen "any day now."

Bryan's uncle is having a beard contest, apparently, and Bryan is immensely proud of his ability to grow facial hair, so he's entering.  They had to send a clean shaven picture in this week and then they have to send a bearded picture at some future date.  I think someone mentioned the end of November.  There will be a prize for best beard and a prize for worst beard.  I don't know who is determining what is meant by those categories.  Here is the "Before" picture:

This weekend we're headed to Pennsylvania for little William's baptism, so that should be fun.  Unfortunately, we have to come back Saturday evening so that Bryan can go into work for a couple of hours on Sunday afternoon in order to make sure that the newly updated software is all functioning the way it should in his section.

I've spent some time this week putting at least pictures up in some earlier weeks, so feel free to browse the months before I officially started blogging.  They're mostly just pictures from my phone, but some do have words as well.  I'll continue putting up old pictures from my camera as I have time.

More Pictures:

I have no idea what's going on with her hair.  She had a bath Tuesday morning and it's been sticking up ever since then.  Usually a little water or a nap will smooth it down, but not this week: